iZi Plus: Best in Test again

In February 2017 one of the biggest Swedish insurance companies Folksam released their test of child car seats. This test is an update of the 2015 test in which the iZi Plus was announced as test winner. In 2017 the iZi Plus is still unbeaten and is the only seat with the grade “Best in Test”.

Folksam has been engaged in research into traffic safety for more than 30 years. The purpose of conducting their own testing is to highlight common issues of child safety in cars by looking at real-life problems. They hope to provide advice and support to parents by testing the most common child car seats on the Swedish market.

The test released in February 2017 is an update of the 2015 test, no test was carried out in 2016. With additional seats being tested in 2017, the Folksam child car seat test results are now available for 22 tested seats for children aged 9 months to 4 years. The iZi Plus has been announced “Best in Test” in 2015 and is still unbeaten in 2017. The iZi Kid X2 i-Size and iZi Modular RF i-Size also achieved the high “Good Choice” grade.

iZi Plus: test winner once again

Our vision is that no children get seriously injured in car accidents, and in order to achieve this safety is of highest priority when developing our child car seats. Having passed the Swedish Plus Test and being announced as test winner for the fourth time (Folksam 2015 & 2017, auto motor und sport 2014, Bäst-i-Test.se 2015), the iZi Plus truly provides the highest safety for your child.

Besides testing for safety, Folksam also took other factors into consideration. Scores from 1 to 4 were given to the 22 tested seats and the iZi Plus is the only seat that achieved a score of 4 as a “spacious seat for extended rear facing”.

Recommended by Folksam: Rear facing for as long as possible

The parameters influencing Folksam’s test scores have a large influence on how long a child can stay rear facing in the seat as well as its ability to protect a child during a collision. Folksam explains: “In Sweden there is a long tradition of having children up to four years of age restrained in a rear facing position. Therefore, the car seats that are popular on the Swedish market often differ from those in the rest of Europe.”

Folksam encourages parents to look beyond legal standards when choosing a child car seat: “It is tempting to believe that all car seats that are approved according to CE standards are safe to use and will provide good protection for young children even if they are seated in a forward facing position. However, the measurements used in these crash tests are inconclusive since only acceleration of the chest (max. 50g) and head (max. 40g) are measured but not on the neck or load on the abdomen. (…) These tests do not reflect the most important parameters. Head and neck injuries account for the highest proportion of severe injuries to a child.”

As a learning from their child car seat tests, Folksam concludes: “Folksam has produced this test to give consumers as well as retailers better information as to what constitutes a safe car seat so that they can make the correct choice that will allow the child to sit rear facing as long as possible. The legal requirements highlight only a limited part of all the possible crash situations that can cause injuries to a child.”